Zimmerman verdict sparks strong reactions from some NFL players

Posted by Mike Florio on July 14, 2013, 2:21 AM EST

AP

There can be no doubt that Trayvon Martin’s death was tragic and unnecessary. George Zimmerman should not have presumed Trayvon Martin was up to no good. George Zimmerman should not have followed Trayvon Martin. And George Zimmerman should not have engaged Trayvon Martin in the exchange that, as a jury of six women found on Saturday night, reasonable doubt existed as to whether Trayvon Martin was killed by a man who was acting in self defense.

But our legal system requires prosecutors to prove all elements of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. In this specific case, prosecutors had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that George Zimmerman was not acting in self defense.

The sharp conflict in testimony from multiple witnesses regarding whether the 911 call made by a neighbor in the moments before the fatal gunshot contained audible cries for help from Trayvon Martin or from George Zimmerman created more than enough reasonable doubt that Zimmerman was the one wailing and moaning for assistance — which made it impossible to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Zimmerman was not acting in self defense.

For non-lawyers and those who were not watching the trial carefully and thus not realizing what prosecutors could and couldn’t prove, it’s a confusing and frustrating result. In the sports world, the confusion and frustration has emerged via various comments made on social media.

Falcons receiver Roddy White, who rarely bites his tongue, sounded off loudly on Twitter. “F–king Zimmerman got away with murder today wow what kind of world do we live in,” White said. “All them jurors should go home tonight and kill themselves for letting a grown man get away with killing a kid.”

Marcus Vick, the brother of Eagles quarterback Mike Vick, continued a theme he began during the prosecution’s closing argument. “Like I said before, a dogs life mean more then a human of color,” Marcus Vick said. “My people’s did 2 years over some bullshit when this dude took a human life. Y’all MF’s sick. . . . Zimmerman u peace of DOG shit if I ever seen u I would run up n let u beat my ass then I’ll pop u right between the eyes u cricket Bitch.”

Even Giants receiver Victor Cruz, who isn’t known for saying or doing outlandish things, offered up a chilling prediction for George Zimmerman’s future, via Deadspin: “Zimmerman doesn’t last a year before the hood catches up with him.”

Bengals linebacker James Harrison made a very strong point that gets to the core of the case. “Think I’ll go pick a fight and get my ass kicked then pull my gun and kill somebody and see if I can get away,” Harrison tweeted.

Ravens receiver Torrey Smith, who lost a brother last year under far different but no less tragic circumstances, realizes that eye-for-an-eye revenge shouldn’t happen. “Also as mad as a lot of people are over the verdict…trying to take out Zimmerman isn’t the answer neither,” Smith said.

The answer should have been for prosecutors to select charges that prosecutors were extremely confident they could prove beyond a reasonable doubt. By swinging the bat for a second-degree murder conviction, the Plan B effort to convict Zimmerman of voluntary manslaughter and put him away for 10-to-30 years became muddled. If the prosecutors had chosen manslaughter and only manslaughter charges, perhaps the case would have been easier to piece together and present. (Even then, it would have been hard to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Zimmerman was not acting in self defense at the moment the shot was fired.)

Perhaps, then, prosecutors should have done what prosecutors in St. Augustine recently did in response to a claim that Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew punched a bouncer at a club. There, prosecutors honestly concluded that there wasn’t enough evidence to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, so charges weren’t pursued.

A different form of justice would have still been available for Trayvon Martin, and justice can still be had for him. Trayvon Martin’s family can and should sue Zimmerman for negligently and/or recklessly provoking the exchange that became the fight in which Zimmerman apparently defended himself with deadly force. Like O.J. Simpson, who was acquitted of double murder despite overwhelming evidence of guilt, Zimmerman will have to testify in a civil case, both at deposition and at trial. Seeing him forced to answer tough questions from a zealous lawyer under oath could help Trayvon Martin’s family obtain the peace they hoped Saturday’s verdict would bring. And Zimmerman could end up being responsible for a crippling verdict, with any significant money he ever earns for the rest of his life going to Trayvon Martin’s family.

The money will mean nothing to Trayvon Martin’s family. Knowing that they can continue to chase Zimmerman for more and more money to satisfy the verdict over the coming decades could mean a lot.

It may not be the desired form of justice, but justice can indeed be had, under a far lower legal standard than the one required to take away an American citizen’s liberty. And while the evidence presented over the past few weeks at trial showed plenty of reasonable doubt regarding criminal charges of murder and manslaughter, the evidence also indicates that the Martin family could easily win a lawsuit against Zimmerman for at least negligently provoking the fight that resulted in Trayvon Martin’s death.

Here’s hoping they pursue it quickly, since George Zimmerman definitely should be accountable at least financially for choosing to pursue Trayon Martin and to provoke the fight that claimed his life.

Lol “provoking a fight” Im sure thats what happened. Perhaps people should keep their hands to themselves and keep their attitude in their mouth. The kid would probably be alive if he was taught to interact with others in a civilized manner.

Why do you put the responsibility of “keeping their hands to themselves and their attitude in their mouth” on the 17 year old teenager who was minding his own business instead of the 28 year old adult with the gun who initiated the entire confrontation based on his own incorrect assumptions and overzealousness?

The Defense Attorney also mentioned a brief amount about his confidence in deterring the civil suits. I don’t see how they would have any legs considering there is no fault to assign to George Zimmerman due to the self-defense. He would have civil claims against Trayvon’s estate technically as well, and of course the fallout that is still due to to the State.

Crump is extremely upset because he just realized he has a lot of sunk money with no payday and he’ll have to chalk every dollar up to being spent on general exposure. Plus fending off his own liability problems.

The legal and moral aspects of this case are different… The prosecution couldn’t prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, so legally, you cannot convict. But morally speaking, Zimmerman is not blameless. An unarmed kid is dead because he ignored the 911 operator and continued harassing a kid who had every right to walk through his father’s neighborhood.

fatsack1 says:Jul 14, 2013 3:06 AM

coward lost the fight…that he prevoked…had to pull a gun stop his deserved thrashing….

Maybe football players should stop worrying about this and keep themselves out of trouble first.

jayhawk6 says:Jul 14, 2013 4:37 AM

Trayvon Martin’s death is what happens when Elmer Fudd.is licensed to carry a gun in an atmosphere rife with chatter about ”Stand Your Ground” laws.

The Martin family should absolutely file a wrongful death suit; the lawyers likely would include the gated community who put George Zimmerman on the street in the first place.

fanfair says:Jul 14, 2013 5:37 AM

Wow. A kid walking home with juice and candy is stalked and killed and people want to blame the kid. Welcome to America.

Spencer says:Jul 14, 2013 6:08 AM

People who have never been deemed suspicious and had the cops called on them for simply walking down the street don’t understand. It’s just one of those things most of you will never get. All these players know Zimmerman would have called the police on every single one of them. You won’t see it from their perspective because you have no idea what that’s like. Be thankful that’s not your reality and don’t talk about what you don’t know.

Local prosecutors did choose not to pursue charges because of the conflicting evidence. But a state prosecutor was appointed after the public outrage at the decision. The same public who now is outraged once again. This time at the verdict. A verdict based on the evidence originally deemed insufficient by local prosecutors.

Armchair lawyering at its finest. To those actually familiar with jury trials, hardly any verdict is a shock. In a case such as this with such tenable evidence, the result was almost expected. It wasn’t about race, it was about the evidence. End of story.

jerryyouradisgrace says:Jul 14, 2013 7:08 AM

How can you pursue an unarmed person when you where TOLD by the police to stop ….then lose a fight that you started because of your pursuit, then kill the unarmed person because you lost that fight

an american child went to the candy store. on his way home, he was killed by george zimmerman, who was instructed by the proper authorities to stand down. today, that child doesn’t get his life back, but george zimmerman gets his gun back. this looks, smells, tastes, sounds and – i would argue – is unjust. emotional reactions from my fellow americans to this verdict at a minimum is understable. perhaps, some of these nfl players feel that, but for the grace of g*d, they could’ve been trayvon martin. that would certainly account for the amger and dismay that I sense from those tweets.

wwwmattcom says:Jul 14, 2013 7:36 AM

Good article Florio, I hope Marcus Vick’s reading skills are more capable than his writing ones.

2nd degree and manslaughter added at the end, shows you how inempt the prosecutors were. Did they think they could paint him as a cold blooded killer? I agree he isn’t.

I don’t know how this guy doesnt get charged with something, obviously they wanted to make him look like a cold blooded killer and thought they picked a jury that would bend inthe wind.

gbfanforever says:Jul 14, 2013 8:01 AM

An unarmed child, who was stalked in the night by a strange man is dead and people here still think he’s to blame? Stay classy folks, and just hope it doesn’t happen to your kids.

Spot on analysis, Mr. Florio. Removing the understandable emotional aspects, this case, as charged and based on admissible evidence, was a loser for the prosecution and the layperson must try to understand that a “not guilty” verdict isn’t the same as a finding of innocence. Clearly, Zimmerman did wrong and will suffer a variety of harms for the rest of his days, whether it be through civil remedies or enduring notoriety that will cause him to be a target of wrath and scorn wherever he is recognized. Also, we must recognize that this case is not the penultimate referendum on race relations and crime in America. Sadly, young men are needlessly murdered on a daily basis in this country, sometimes black on black, sometimes white on black or black on white. These cases typically don’t make the headlines, don’t garner protest and often go unsolved but the deaths are no less tragic. This country should be more concerned about reducing gun violence across the board and try to take race out of the equation.

he should have been charged with first degree murder. zimmereman was looking for trouble, he brought a gun, he assumed an innocent person was making trouble and he put himself in a position to cause concern for martin because martin was being followed (martin may assumed he was the one in harms way so he defended himself). zimmerman deserved to be beaten that night martin didnt deserve to die. the cops told zimmerman to stop following him and he didnt listen he continued to pursue his own form of justice.

It sure seems like this heading to civil court is an end run around double jeopardy. The jury said not guilty, just let it go. I know that sucks for the parents, but don’t waste more time looking for revenge. There isn’t any justice, and the faster they realize that, the better off they will be.

easyjb says:Jul 14, 2013 8:40 AM

This is easy. Trayvon Martin was murdered by George Zimmerman. The jury had all the evidence to convict him of manslaughter. I am shocked at some of the statements by some of you. Zimmerman will have another day in court. Zimmerman had that gun in his hand prior to the confrontation. No way it could have been pulled according to his story. There was no more yelling after the shot…

youngs79 says:Jul 14, 2013 8:41 AM

The prosecutors DID NOT prove the case! Why isn’t anyone mad at them for over reaching on the 2nd degree murder charge and not concentrating on the involuntary manslaughter charge. The jurors were 6 women. 5 of the 6 are Mothers. Do you honestly think Zimmerman would be not guilty without Prosecutors bringing a weak case to trial? Be mad at them, not the outcome.

I find it funny how they completely disregard everything that happened up to we’re Zimmerman pulls the trigger ?… How is it that chasing someone down with a gun as backup while ignoring authorities request to stop… Allow one to all of sudden get to say they now are self defending when clearly you were the aggressor

watchfullhose says:Jul 14, 2013 8:58 AM

Or if, you know, Zimmerman would would not follow people around brandishing a gun

Not quite. Trayvon might still be alive if Zimmerman had stayed in his car. Like the authorities told him to do.

bricketh says:Jul 14, 2013 9:27 AM

While I can understand it rage if you think Zimmerman is guilty (I have no opinion on his guilt or innocence), I think it is not only stupid, but completely irresponsible of grown men, NFL Players especially, to talk about (and even potentially encouraging) a violent reaction against the results of the case. With the Hernandez situation in full swing, I would think the NFL would come down swiftly against these players like Harrison for stating he should pick a fight so he can kill someone and see if he can get away with it, or White for saying the jurors should kill themselves…yeah, that makes up for the loss of life that has already occurred. And then Cruz is all but calling for a retaliation against this guy by making his comment. I’m sure others are already thinking it, but if one person goes after Zimmerman because of Cruz’ comment hitting home for him, that is one too many. Lastly, I despise the Ravens, but Torrey Smith is the only one of these players that spoke out (in this article, anyway) that has any sense. He may believe the kid was murdered in cold blood, and Zimmerman should have been found guilty, but he doesn’t react so stupidly as the others. He has a common sense approach, and says the right thing. I can consider him a role model for how he carried himself after his brother’s death (which some fans of the Patriots wrongly gave him hell over), and how he has responded here, especially with respect to how the other players have reacted publicly. It’s one thing to think these things and say them to family/friends, but to go out and say them publicly is totally different. Marcus Vick can’t be held accountable for his actions by the league, but the others sure should be…

blackandbluedivision says:Jul 14, 2013 9:53 AM

I think it’s unfair to judge people by saying they didn’t know the facts of the case and shouldn’t be angry.

If you’ve ever been racially profiled you should be angry.

If you’ve ever been wronged by our justice system you should be angry.

Trayvon Martin was screwed by our justice system from day one.

Zimmerman called police at 7:00 p.m. that night to report a suspicious character. Police didn’t show up until there were reports of an altercation and shots fired. Where were they?

Police bring Z into custody at 7:52 p.m. He’s released at 1:00 a.m. Trayvon Martin isn’t identified until 9:00 a.m. (after his father reported him missing) What kind of investigation is complete without identifying the “suspect?” What police just took him at his word? Oh, and at some point the DA was called off by his father from pressing charges. Even the arresting officer admitted that he should have been charged.

Charges are pressed on April 11 after the event occured on February 26th. After a media outrage and super storm. Why did it take that?

Lastly, the DA who pressed charges over stepped her bounds by charging for second degree murder. Fishy, huh? Enough to shut people up about him not being arrested and enough to make a name for herself, while knowing she didn’t have a strong enough case to get him on.

Where is the justice?

patriots420 says:Jul 14, 2013 9:57 AM

After watching the CNN 3 minute catchup video I read this article again. Man there is a lot of racism going on here. As a white guy I frankly don’t want to hear it but I guess they have a right to thier opinion but it just makes me look at these guys in a non respectful light.

Zimmerman was obviously a little mentally challenged following stereotypes too closely. And Martin did what he should have been raised not to do by living up to said stereotypes.

And to respond to Marcus Vick, my dog is smarter than you and Travon combined and you should be jailed for murdering the English language

There’s nothing illegal about carrying a firearm, there’s nothing illegal about following someone down a street, there’s nothing illegal about asking someone what they’re doing, there’s nothing illegal about continuing to follow someone even when the police tell you you should not do it because there’s no law against it, it was just advice. It is illegal to physically attack someone. It is not illegal to defend yourself. Simple as that. Justice prevailed.

blackandbluedivision says:Jul 14, 2013 9:57 AM

youngs79 says:
Jul 14, 2013 8:41 AM
The prosecutors DID NOT prove the case! Why isn’t anyone mad at them for over reaching on the 2nd degree murder charge and not concentrating on the involuntary manslaughter charge. The jurors were 6 women. 5 of the 6 are Mothers. Do you honestly think Zimmerman would be not guilty without Prosecutors bringing a weak case to trial? Be mad at them, not the outcome.
_____________________

I think people are mad at both. There is a constant complaint and dislike of the law by African-Americans. I think a lot of people are angry at the justice system in general for this. People wanted him guilty of SOMETHING. A complete “Not Guilty” verdict is very disheartening.

mswravens says:Jul 14, 2013 9:58 AM

Florio – nice to see that you have struck an even-handed tone based on familiarizing yourself with the facts & circumstances of the case. Too bad you are unable to apply the same informed mindset to Ray Lewis, instead opting to act as the uninformed assclown about his case.

To me, Zimmerman should have never got out of the car with a loaded gun & pursued Trayvon Martin. Reeks of manslaughter. Prosecution made a horrible mistake, doing battle over whose voice was on the 911 call, and losing focus on the simple fact that he never should have pursued Martin. i know they made the point, but its all about controlling the conversation in the courtroom. As a trial lawyer, I recognized how the defense focused on the 911 call, knowing it was a battle they couldn’t lose. I am saddened today that the killer of an innocent teen remains free. Hopefully karma comes to visit Zimmerman & justice is served whenever the time comes that he meets his maker.

tigerlilac says:Jul 14, 2013 10:00 AM

Racial and class injustice is as American as apple pie. A coward, playing cops and robbers, armed with a lethal weapon, profiled and stalked a young black male, created a confrontation and killed the boy. Our legal system found the coward innocent of murder. Prosecutors that have a high success rate when they take action to incarcerate young black males proved to be incompetent in bringing charges and prosecuting this coward. Florio provides an excellent analysis of what took place and how things may proceed from here legally. The voices of black atheletes he refers to may not be the most articulate but they speak to the pain and anger these men feel in response not only to this injustice but to system that has perpetuated racial and class injustice their entire lives.

With the exception of Torrey Smith, the above quotes are a bunch of stupid people making stupid comments about things they know little about. I would like to think that sports fans know the people they watch have little between the ears.

censoredagain says:Jul 14, 2013 10:00 AM

Stuff like this only goes to prove that this country is still monumentally screwed up. The reactions of people are sad, because for many, its all about race, and nothing more.

Take the time to pick up a few books and learn about the justice system, and how the guidelines are followed. It is FAR from perfect, and it will never be 100% correct, but in this case, the jury was presented information that, from the beginning, had no real legs under it, and they followed those set guidelines. If you want to be angry, direct your anger at the prosecuters for attempting to prove 2nd degree murder charges, rather than manslaughter, which at the very least would have meted out a 10 year sentence, and would have been much easier to establish. They didn’t have anywhere near enough to get a 2nd degree murder charge conviction.

The fact that these players are lashing out in such moronic ways goes to show how far we’ve fallen as a society. Educate yourselves before you embarrass yourselves.

mswravens says:Jul 14, 2013 10:02 AM

I don’t blame the jury. Juries do the best they can. The prosecution over reached & failed to prove their case. I think Zimmerman is guilty, but I don’t think the State proved that beyond a reasonable doubt.

I do also believe that if the roles were reversed, and a black teen with a gun pursued Zimmerman and his Skittles, and Zimmerman ended up dead, Treyvon would have been found guilty. If you doubt that, you are blind to the world in which we live…said as a conservative white male.

louhudson23 says:Jul 14, 2013 10:02 AM

Trayvon Martin would be alive,having committed no crime,if only G. Zimmerman had found something else to do besides sticking his nose in Trayvon Martin’s business,which at the time consisted of lawfully walking down the street =fact.

Unfortunately there are no winners in this case. The Martins no longer have a son, and Zimmerman will have to live the rest of his life looking over his shoulder, or picking and choosing where he can go, live, etc…I would not want to be in the shoes of either family. Right or wrong the jury has spoken and he was found not guilty in a court of law. That’s the end of that. We should not judge or condemn the jury or the justice system. They did what they felt was right. But also we can not judge or condemn anyone who feels strongly enough about the outcome to speak out or even act out against the verdict. Fans on PFT, are quick to point to the “court of public opinion” when speaking of players or players actions they don’t agree with, but like it or not there is also a court of public opinion outside of the courtroom that Zimmerman will have to deal with. How free is he really if he cant choose to live where he wants? He will more than likely have to uproot his family and leave Florida, and any job he pursues in the future will probably require him to work with, or come into contact with those of other races. I’m hoping for the best but I don’t have much faith in people being able to hold their emotions in check (just like Zimmerman the night he followed Martin), street justice is real, and it would be naïve to think otherwise. I’ve worked in law enforcement for years and saw it all the time. It just wasn’t reported or required media attention on a national level. There are far too many people in this country that will gladly trade their own freedom for a chance to become a “celebrity” vigilante. I pray for the safety of Zimmerman and his family, but it wouldn’t shock me one bit if Victor Cruz turns out to be a prophete.

bensstinkyfingers says:Jul 14, 2013 10:10 AM

Only God and the two folks involved know what really happened that day. We can all assume what happened based on stereotypes and hype created by media and ignorance of other races. Justice may or may not have been found in court yesterday, but it always seems to be found by Karma, or in the court of the Lord. Prayers to all involved, we all bleed red.

Some of you defending Zimmerman are really out of touch with this case. Zimmerman was ordered to stay in his car, there was the police call on TV and presented to the jury. The man on the phone (Zimmerman) said he saw trayvon cutting through the apartment complex that a string of burglarys have happened. trayvon ran according to Zimmerman and shortly after you can hear the sound of a gun clicking. This presents if Zimmerman approached trayvon with a gun then Trayvon had every right to defend himself ( stand your ground) And please, don’t tell me how some of you would diffuse the situation peacefully because its highly unlikely most of us would do that. Trayvon clearly fought Zimmerman and Zimmerman proceeded to shoot Trayvon while he was on the ground. So after all of this where being ordered to stay where you are and completely ignore it and then proceed to kill someone on the suspicion of “Oh this could Be the person robbing these apartments.” No, this was a BS jury and some of you need to read into the case more. The point this could of been avoided if GM stayed in his car LIKE AUTHORITY’S TOLD HIM TOO.

Reading all the comments is almost as shocking as the fact that Zimmerman is allowed to be a free man. I’m stunned that so many people believe this guy did nothing wrong by provoking the exchange and killing this young man.

The reaction you see from NFL players is attributed to personal experiences or those of family. What they see is a stupid wanna be cop getting away with murder.

beachsidejames says:Jul 14, 2013 10:48 AM

Sentence guidelines were for too many years to put Zimmerman away that long. If it could have been a 3 to 10 year sentence out in 5 that to me sounds like the right amount of time for this terrible accident.

I am wondering how many of these NFL players in this article actually followed the case. From what I understand, is that the prosecution didn’t present their case very well. I didn’t follow the case, so the only way I would know for sure what happened, would have been for me to be there.

drbob117 says:Jul 14, 2013 11:03 AM

Pretty damn sad, but not as sad as people on this board defending Zimmerman’s acts merely because he’s white. I’m white, and I think it’s disgraceful that a guy can stalk a guy until he’s finally confronted and then when he’s losing the fight can take out a gun and shoot the guy in the heart. If the same circumstances had unfolded with Trayvon as the shooter, he would have been under the jail that night, and would be serving a life term by now.

To everyone who is focusing on race, I believe we are missing the real problem (and as odd as it sounds, Harrison has a point), the Stand Your Ground law is one of the worst laws in this country.

There has always been self defense considerations in our society when analyzing violent confrontations, and one of the strong core public policy beliefs is that we should avoid confrontation and violence when possible. This law actually encourages violence.

Stand Your Ground is why the jury came back not guilty.

Our increasing societal need and glorification of extreme violence is getting us to these situations.

Also, could someone correct me if I am wrong, were 17 year old children serving in Vietnam? Sometimes a 17 year old who is almost 6 feet talk looks and behaves very closely to what we call an adult. That doesn’t mean he should have been killed. It means that he appeared adult sized.

I did not watch any of the trial except for the final arguments. Right, wrong or indifferent, the prosecution did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt, that Zimmerman acted in self defense. Why don’t these people, spewing hate, blame the prosecution for screwing up? Isn’t hate, what brought us here? Yet these atheletes above, spew more hate.

In my own opinion, I don’t believe this was about race. But the press, Al Sharpton and ACLU have made it about race. I notice all of the above atheletes quoted above are black. Who is are the racists here?

Zimmerman is without a doubt responsible for the death of Travon Martin. I don’t think anyone would argue against that. Zimmerman screwed up and did what he wanted and had to fight for his life, by his own doing, he put himself there. Should he go to jail? I believe so. But spewing more hate like these pro football players above, these so called role models is WRONG. I don’t want my son looking up to them.

what a shame that even with the death of this young man, hate still rules. With that, there will be more violence and more death.

peytonsneck18 says:Jul 14, 2013 11:54 AM

those of u that are defending zimmerman in this, i hope yr kids are safe when they walk to the store or just out in public, and u better hope theres not another zimmerman type charature that is following them around and profiling them as something theyre not, remember it can happen to anybody, this country still has a long ways to go!!

eagles512 says:Jul 14, 2013 12:04 PM

“Race asside. What it boils down to is a grown man shot and killed an unarmed 17 year old. That cannot happen my friends.”

You can’t put aside everything else and make it that simple. I think Zimmerman is an idiot for putting himself in that situation, but once it gets to him being pinned on the ground, is he supposed to not defend himself. Of course, that is if that is what happened. But the testimonies made it seem that it did.

Zimmerman is so guilty it’s not even funny. Intent to cause harm is all over this case. From stalking him, to ignoring police orders and then instigating the ordeal. What a joke.

mackcarrington says:Jul 14, 2013 2:45 PM

Football players are too dumb, stupid and ignorant to have any intelligent opinions about anything other than football. Hey dummies!! Stick to football. That way you can fool people into thinking that you are halfway intelligent.

CKL says:Jul 14, 2013 3:32 PM

Marcus Vick doesn’t even know why his own brother did time since he said it was about the lives of animals. Why should we think he’s intelligent enough to comment on this?

dtlb58 says:Jul 14, 2013 4:31 PM

Anybody here that loves their guns and hates gun control…this is what is going to happen. Carry a gun, a fight ensues, gotta defend yourself, pull the trigger. Jury will acquit per self defense.

This is what this country is coming to. What is surprising to me, is that there weren’t two guns involved.

for the NFL guys are dumb, some of these guys took pay cuts to play in the NFL. most people focus in people like Marcus Vick (who never played in the NFL) because even though he went to Virginia tech he legitimately has the education level of an 8th grader. I guarantee you if he were testes his reading score would be on an 8th grade level…..unfortunately at best. why not interview a jess Saturday, troy Vincent, ej Manuel, Arian foster. switching sports for a sec lebron James has been an avid trayvon martin guy……..totally disagree with his stance but respect his argument. they don’t make headlines though, its the dregs of society who do unfortunately. unfortunately. we are the audience, they give us what we want.

His malicious prosecution was not sought by local authorities that had the information but by politicians that hate the US Constitution and the 2nd amendment rights of US citizens.

MDSisAtool says:Jul 15, 2013 9:08 AM

I’m still trying to figure out how Zimmerman “stalked” or profiled. It was dark, raining, Trayvon had a hoodie on and long pants. Unless Zimmerman had some kind of super hero eye sight, he had no way of determining a color of skin. He profiled the clothing and the idea that someone would be walking around in the rain, slowly, at night. I just wish people would have some respect for our justice system for once.

patriotenvy says:Jul 15, 2013 12:01 PM

OJ got away with murder and they celebrated, danced in the streets.
If Zimmerman ended up with brain damage from one of those punches or payalyzed, I bet these people would say serves him right. A fan gets beat into a coma at a game because he wanted the other team to win. That’s the world these people want to preserve.

If everyone of these NFL players are not immediately dismissed from their team and any endorsement deals immediately retracted, then the racial duplicity in America will be on full display. George Zimmerman shot a 17 yo individual, not a kid, in self defense. He wasn’t beating to death some indefensible animal, he was protecting his life from a person that, because of racial anger spurred by the comments of black leaders and continuing to be fueled by these NFL players, was intent on causing great bodily harm.

Like OJ’s acquittal back in 1995 the prosecution failed to prove beyond a reasonal doubt that OJ had killed 2 white people (Nicole Brown & a male friend). White people including the victims’ family had to live with OJ walking off. Sure we protested but we didn’t threatened to kill OJ because he was acquitted. The prosecution could not prove without a reasonable doubt that OJ. Had committed the crime.

This Zimmerman case is the same. The prosecution failed to prove that Zimmerman did not commit the crime in self defence. People should accept the verdict the same way as we had to accept OJ’s not guilty verdict back then.